“Might doesn’t always equal right.” I peered over at Rufus Dalton, one of the younger members of the Alliance but still decades older than me.
“Care to enlighten us?” I asked.
“We have a film we would like you to watch,” Lupine Monroe answered. “Take a seat.”
“We’ll stand,” I said on behalf of myself and my betas.
“As you wish,” he nodded.
I shifted to face the screen with my arms crossed over my broad chest. Seconds later, the room darkened, and the screen before us flickered on until a familiar scene filled its width.
My jaw tightened as I gritted my teeth, watching both Chance and me, moving down from high over a cliff and disappearing into the wooded area around Dr. Pine’s home. It took a few minutes, but soon after, that same camera caught me in my wolf form, sniffing at one of the trees.
I didn’t need to watch the rest of the film to know what happened next. Yet, I didn’t bother to interrupt the video’s playing, as Marshall had referred to it.
“The angle of the video suggests the camera was located inside of the house,”Chance mind spoke to me.
He was right. The video faced outward, toward the cliff where we originated from and then scanned into the woods, closer to Pines’s home. The cameras came from inside of Pines’s home, facing outward.
The screen turned black a few beats after it caught me getting caught in the wolf trap.
“That looked like it hurt,” one of the vampires said when the lights turned up.
I rolled up the sleeve of my right arm, rotating it for the entire room to see. “Like new.”
One of the other shifters on the council grunted.
“Would you care to tell us what you were doing?” Lupine asked with a flinty look in his gaze.
“Looked like a nice area to go for a run,” I answered.
His lips tightened into a thin line, and I had to stifle my smirk. While I respected the Alliance, it was in my genetic makeup to buck against authority that came from outside of my pack.
“You’ve always been a smart-ass,” Marshall said.
“He takes after his father,” Rufus interjected. “We all know how that ended.”
That caused me to bare my teeth and my incisors lengthened, my wolf threatening to emerge.
“Easy,” Lupine warned. He gave Rufus a look before turning back to me. “We are here for all of our safety. You know what could happen to our society if humans once again found out about our existence.”
“Which is exactly why we need to keep tabs on you. To make sure you and your pack aren’t up to your old tricks,” one of the bear shifters added. “Your pack has caused enough problems in the past.”
“Past being the operative word in that statement.” My voice held a bite that I couldn’t hold back even if I wanted. It pissed me off that every time I appeared in front of the council, they threw my pack’s history in my fucking face. A record that started centuries before my birth.
“For over half a century, the Nightwolf pack has been peaceful and one of the most profitable packs for the Alliance. Is that not true?” I demanded.
Lupine bristled and shifted in his oversized wooden chair, unable to verbally disagree with what I’d just said.
“A tiger can’t change its stripes,” one of the lion shifters spoke up.
I glared at him. “We’re wolves,” I growled. My betas and Chance grunted in agreement. “Don’t forget that.”
“And might I suggest that you not forget that you answer to us,” Rufus said.
I chuckled.
“What’s so funny?” he snapped.
